Today, we started Week 12 of the Splendid Sampler 2 Block-of-the-Week quilt along.
Last week, we introduced you to the block, called: Tulip in Bloom by Nadra Ridgeway. You can see my version of her block, here.
Oh my goodness! I'm so excited about this week's block . . . the design is so well executed and it was great fun to make! This week's block designer is Irene Blanck. Please check out the blog post she wrote about her block because she included some great photos; one of which is a version of the block using just stitches. I love it!
Irene's block is called: Free as a Bird. Here is my version:
It has been a while since I made an applique block with so many pieces and I had such a great time choosing my fabrics for this project!
The first fabrics I chose were for the bird's wings. I've wanted to use that cream/gray dot for a while, now, and finally found a place that felt right using it.
I loved how Irene used a print where she purposely chose an element of the fabric for the bird's eye and so I wanted to do the same, if possible. That's when I saw the black print and fussy-cut the bird's body from it. Before I did my fussy-cutting and using a pin, I poked a hole in my template where the eye would be. Then, I pinned through the eye element printed on the fabric so I knew where I wanted to fussy cut the bird from.
Next, I chose the blue cross-hatch and words print for the bird's tail feathers. The rest of the fabrics, for the branch, leaves and berry, tied the fabric choices together and added a sense of visual balance. I decided to use the yellow flower print as my background because I liked how it was reminiscent of a flower garden on a sunny day.
There were two things I slightly changed: 1) I made the branch a bit thicker, and 2) I embroidered the legs with a bend in them. The branch is probably a bit wider than I would have liked and didn't notice it until after I attached the berry at the tip. However, overall, I'm very happy with the results.
The Splendid Sampler 2 book will be available October 2018. It is currently available for pre-sale so order your copy, now!
